The multi-talented chef has created an 'all things to all people’ multi-venue - Alba by Kuruvita. Words by Liz Bond for delicious.
Chef, author, brand ambassador, television presenter and tour guide Peter Kuruvita has left Noosa Beach Club and Hastings Street behind. He has just opened his very own destination restaurant, cocktail bar, cafe, pizzeria, providore, cooking school, and event space in Noosaville.
Alba by Kuruvita is cocooned by luxury residences complete with golf course. But never fear southern holidaymakers; Noosa’s latest rockstar restaurant is only a mere seven-minute Uber ride from the beachside glitter strip.
Hailey McGinty from H & G Designs is obviously not an acolyte of filmmaker Wes Anderson’s vibrant colour palette. Instead, she’s drawn inspiration from the origins of the site – a sand quarry (hence Alba) and kept to pale timbers, metres of marble, breezy taupe sheers and classic Thonet chairs. She has nailed Peter’s brief for a “house of brands” subtly delineating the zones through furnishings and finishes.
Noosa Bread Co sourdough and First Batch coffee, milk and other essentials are available alongside take-home meals, prepped veggies and gourmet goodies in the convenient self-serve Providore. Like the restaurant’s Sri Lankan hand-crafted sea-shell napkin rings? Buy them here.
Peter’s long-held dream to open a Chef’s Kitchen cooking school has also been realised. The full broadcast-ready kitchen studio effortlessly transforms into an 18-guest cooking school or a 32-seat demonstration kitchen that can be instantly reimagined as a Chef’s Table for 12 with Peter as host and a sommelier ready to pour. “It’s the ‘Chefs Kitchen’ that really excites me”, Peter grinned. “I can’t wait to start on the cooking school & chef’s table program – we’ll even be able to hire the space out as a wired studio kitchen with camera solutions”.
Alba weekdays begin with jaffles from the wood-fired pizza oven, full-breakfast takeaway and a dine-in menu from 7 am. Next up, select from all-day dining, artisan pizza or lunch menus before ‘Alba hour’ kicks in at 4 pm. The kid and pooch-friendly lawn is destined to be Noosa’s #1 destination to perch with afternoon vino and snacks.
Peter might be a true Noosa local but he’s bringing his Sri Lankan heritage to the table with long weekend breakfasts featuring stringhoppers and egg hoppers. He learned to cook by his grandmother’s side and one of her recipes – arguably the Sunshine Coast’s favourite dish – snapper curry, is back.
Heaven knows how the white table cloths and linen napkins will hold up from an onslaught of hungry diners tucking in and slurping mud crabs, Moreton Bay bugs and local Mooloolaba prawns served four ways: steamed with ginger, chilli, shallot or drawn lemon butter or flash fried with black pepper, curry leaf of salt and pepper. And, would it be wrong to fangirl on the BBQ pork belly sharing plate space with chilli pineapple salad, peanut caramel and crackling?
Peter contemplates the space and many menus but reassures himself saying, “You can have wow days and not so wow days but for me, consistency is the most important element. My success has come from consistency”.
Alba by Kuruvita
3 Alba Cl, Noosa Heads
Tue – Sat, 6:30am – late
albanoosa.com.au
